Lyles will get at least one home start for Astros

Astros fans will get at least one up-close, unfiltered view of Jordan Lyles before the team makes a determination about his immediate future.

General manager Ed Wade said Friday that the Astros will bump Lyles’ two-start minimum stay in the major leagues to “at least” three because of lingering tenderness in the throwing elbow of lefthander Wandy Rodriguez.

Lyles, 20, will pitch Sunday against the San Diego Padres in a game that will not be televised and then at Minute Maid Park on June 11 for a 6:05 p.m. game against the Atlanta Braves. Lyles will face the favorite team of his youth, when he lived in Hartsville, S.C., part of the large swath of “Braves Country” across the South.

“I knew that if I went back, it would be against the Braves,” Lyles said. “I’m sure it will be a win-win for the people back home. Either the Braves win or I pitch well.”

Lyles, a first-round draft choice in 2008, allowed two runs in seven innings of a 7-3 road victory over the Chicago Cubs this past Tuesday.

Working off a fastball in the 89-90 mph range, Lyles allowed five hits and no walks while striking out four.

“As guys get hyped through a system, as pitchers get hyped through a system, I think automatically there’s the mindset, ‘Here comes a 95-96 mph guy with huge stuff,’ ” Wade said. “The fact of the matter is, this is a guy who has a tick above average pitches across the board with plus-plus command and plus-plus poise. If you put that combination together, you can pitch in the big leagues and be successful for a very long time.”

Wandy could rehab soon

Should all go well in an extended bullpen session Sunday in San Diego, Wandy Rodriguez will throw a short rehab assignment Wednesday for Class AA Corpus Christi.

In a throwing session Thursday, Rodriguez continued to experience soreness when he attempted to throw his breaking ball. Rodriguez had hoped to return to the rotation for Tuesday’s opener of a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

“It was just — the word I heard back was — a little tentative,” manager Brad Mills said. “Obviously, that’s going to happen when you hurt your arm from throwing it, you’re going to be a little tentative.”

Rodriguez expects to throw roughly 60 pitches in Corpus Christi’s game at Midland.

Christmas in June

The Houston temperatures might be closing in on triple digits, but Astros assistant general manager for scouting Bobby Heck is engulfed with a sense of holiday cheer.

The Major League Baseball amateur draft begins Monday night, and the Astros have the No. 11 pick overall.

“It’s like three days before Christmas for the scouting world,” Heck said.

“The only problem is,” general manager Ed Wade said, “we get our package on Christmas Day — draft night — and sometimes we have to wait three to five years before we can open it to see what we’ve got.”

Heck characterizes the draft pool as having an abundance of pitching talent.

“If velocity is still in style, it’s a pitching draft,” Heck said. “It’s real deep. I saw 95 (mph) this spring more than I ever have out scouting the country.

Because of all the sandwich compensation picks awarded for losing free agents, the Astros’ second-round pick falls at 69 and their third-rounder at 99. Heck said the Astros’ draft board is probably 60-70 percent complete at this point.

Odds and ends

Reliever Alberto Arias underwent his follow-up surgery to clean out scar tissue in his surgically repaired shoulder and will rehab at the Astros’ spring training complex in Kissimmee, Fla. He’s not expected to throw for 1-2 months. … Also in Kissimmee is Brad Hennessey, 31 and a former Giants pitcher, whom the Astros signed to a minor league contract and who may go to Class AAA eventually. Hennessey was 17-23 with a 4.69 ERA in parts of five seasons for San Francisco (2004-08).